Bob Leonard was Regina's Mr. Wrestling

The mind flashes back to the 1970s and the rich recollection of Bob Leonard stepping into the ring at Regina’s Exhibition Auditorium, microphone in hand, and wishing everyone a “good, good evening.”

Another engrossing Stampede Wrestling card was about to begin.

For a few hours each week, reality would be suspended — as would my pursuit of academic mediocrity — as Stu Hart’s coterie of combatants treated the attendees to thrills and spills.

The wrestlers, largely an itinerant crew, would come and go.

Bob Leonard was a mainstay.

For most of his 74 years, you would find Bob anywhere there was a ring or an assembly of wrestlers. He was a promoter, a photographer, an announcer, an author and a friend to all.

He knew the greats of the grappling game — everyone from WWF (later WWE) luminaries such as Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant to the stars of the best-ever wrestling loop, Stampede Wrestling.

There were, of course, the Harts. Bret (The Hitman) Hart cut his teeth in his father’s promotion and, in that capacity, made weekly stops at Exhibition Auditorium. His matches with the Dynamite Kid were absolute classics to those of us who appreciate the mat mayhem.

Upon learning of Bob’s death on Jan. 9, all the names were dancing through my head.

I saw Bob virtually every time I attended a local wrestling card. At times, he would set up interviews — such as when The Hitman returned to Regina as part of the WWF in 1987.

It didn’t have to be a major promotion for Bob to be involved. It didn’t matter to him whether there were 8,000 or 80 people in the audience. He loved wrestling. He loved the people involved. And he was as much a part of it as the people who collided with turnbuckles and bravely survived claw holds or ladder matches.

It is doubtful that anyone, anywhere, has a better photographic record of professional wrestling than Leonard — or a better photographic memory, for that matter.

Dating back to the 1950s, he captured priceless images of all the greats and all the jobbers. He was a walking encyclopedia, and the easiest guy in the world with whom to talk.

“His history of photography is just amazing,” Hart recalled during a recent interview. “Nobody took better pictures. Most of the great action shots that I’ve got of my early career are all from Regina. He was a guy who took snapshots of history every week. Then he’d show up the next week and show you his pictures. You could buy them or we’d use them for the program and things like that.

“He was just such a great photographer and he captured so many images from before I ever started wrestling to long after my career. He was the guy taking pictures. He’ll be sorely missed, just like that building. There’s a lot of history that’s going down and being erased and sort of lost forever.”

Detractors of wrestling will point out that it is fake. But the passion is real, and the bumps exact a toll.

Only the elite few get rich by immersing themselves in the world of professional wrestling. For Bob, it was not a lucrative venture, but who loved it more? I cannot think of anyone.

I can think of all the nights at Exhibition Auditorium, listening to Bob’s distinctively deep voice as the wrestlers were introduced. And then he would be at ringside, taking pictures — entirely in his element.

Our paths crossed a few years ago at High Impact Wrestling, which was then based at the Victoria Club. Bob had experienced some health issues, but was undeterred.

When he entered the ring to set up the first bout, everyone in attendance knew what it meant for him to be there. Even before he uttered one word into the microphone, a duly appreciative crowd chanted his good name.

Think about that for a moment. Not once did he ever face a living, breathing, snorting opponent in the ring, but everyone knew exactly who he was and everything that he meant.

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